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I love the fact that you A) don't give up &
b) don't mind telling people you F up. Most makers of your level I would think would not be so open about messing up?
Is it just that kitchen knives are tricky or do you some times have trouble on other kinds of knives?
I get sick every time a dish gets sent back or I burn the crab cakes. It only costs me a few $$ and a little bit of time it's got to be much harder for a knife maker. All those hours spent, the cost of materials...

Its been a pleasure doing business with you so far. Again I have lots of time, so dont worry. Im really looking forward to Colins pice though. I often admire other peoples pieces, and Colin is the one that made me order from you. So cant wait to see pics

Is there a point where there is no point of folding any more? Correct me if Im wrong, but more layers means a tighter structure in the steel? are there any optimal times you should fold?

I love the fact that you A) don't give up &
b) don't mind telling people you F up. Most makers of your level I would think would not be so open about messing up?
Is it just that kitchen knives are tricky or do you some times have trouble on other kinds of knives?
I get sick every time a dish gets sent back or I burn the crab cakes. It only costs me a few $$ and a little bit of time it's got to be much harder for a knife maker. All those hours spent, the cost of materials...

Hi Colin, Kitchen knifes and utesils seem to give me the most trouble, the sanmai especially. If the forging it not perfect the core shifts and then you get strips of core where you dont want them and/soft cladding on the edge. I also just recently (on two occasions) found that if you forge too thin the stainless will decarburize the core all the way through and the knife will not harden. That caused me to throw away most of the last batch of sanmai and was the ruination of several knives. For me fing thing up seems to be part of the learning experiance and god and everbody knows that I am not perfect so why try to make people think I am. I on occassion still screw up a hunter or bowie but not often and it is usually in the quench. the time and the materials lost are a ***** but the lesson learned is valuable so I just take it in stride.

Its been a pleasure doing business with you so far. Again I have lots of time, so dont worry. Im really looking forward to Colins pice though. I often admire other peoples pieces, and Colin is the one that made me order from you. So cant wait to see pics

Is there a point where there is no point of folding any more? Correct me if Im wrong, but more layers means a tighter structure in the steel? are there any optimal times you should fold?

Thanks Oivind, I have been having fun with our project even though it is very frustrating.

Most of the literature that I have or have read say that there is no benifit to folding more than 18 times and that things start to go downhill shortly after, in other words the steel starts to degrade. and you can make the pattern so fine that it is undetectible without magnification.

I will once again say that the suji you made me gets more Wows then any other knife I have, or any one else for that matter. I can say that it very well may be the best kitchen knife in the world! The knife holds a edge like no other.

I will once again say that the suji you made me gets more Wows then any other knife I have, or any one else for that matter. I can say that it very well may be the best kitchen knife in the world! The knife holds a edge like no other.

How does the sheep handle do? Do you use some kind of mineral oil on it or anything?

I know you are asking Niloc And I encourage him to answer also. but in my experiance any kind of animal fat/oil is better for sheep horn than a mineral based oil. with constant use the natural oil transfered from the hand seems to be enough but a suppliment won't hurt.

I use mink oil mixed with bees wax. I have herd of horn being stabilized with wood hardener in a vac. Like put it in a jar with the wood stab & use a food saver jar attachment. I don't know if that would work or not? But the mink oil works good, water proofs and smells nice.